Another good piece, my friend. I myself am holding off on posting opinions, prognostications and such right at the moment because I'm willing to give Snyder the benefit of the doubt-especially given what appears to be a major shift in direction as far as the team operation goes. I taking a wait and see perspective with Allen and Shanahan and the new coaching hires which will probably extend through free agency and the draft just to see what they're planning, what direction they team seems to be going, and, basically, to legitimize the idea that Snyder has indeed decided to let others have the reins.

0000

I'm giving it a 2-4 year window. Looking for improvement in all areas. Redskins, you're on the clock.

Good piece. Unfortunately, if the team loses, it won't matter if Snyder could bring Vince Lombardi back from the grave. There is a certain faction of fans, or, Dimwit Nation, that wouldn't accept the end of time, as an excuse for why the team lost.

Snyder will always be the debil, to some.

I like having him as the owner. Always have.

Warts and all.

0000

"Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and **** the prom queen"

It's human nature to want to turn anyone in the public eye into some extreme caricature. That's unfortunate because even the simplest personalities are far more complex than we'd probably like to credit them. In Snyder's case, it's the one thing I think he truly has to 'own' - his seemingly impervious determination not to allow those outside of his inner circle to really get to know who he is. I think that's a near fatal flaw. It might be his nature, it might be a calculated move, I'm not sure what drives him to be so intensely private. But I think it's a mistake.

Fans of the Washington Redskins want to like their owner. They want to love their owner. They want to defend their owner. But he makes it very difficult to do that, because he's dead-set against letting anyone know who he really is.

I'll relate it to the 'war' the Redskins were engaged in with the Washington Post and other traditional media several years back. Rather than trying to create some media system that bypasses them or shuts them out (think 'Redskins Unfiltered', the acquisition of extremeskins, gobbling up radio stations, hiring talent away from your critics, etc...), the smart way to deal with your critics is to give them more access and to face them openly. If Snyder ever really opened up and made himself accessible, particularly to the fanbase, he could totally change that whole dynamic. I'm not sure what he's so afraid of?

So if there is a good percentage of fandom that's decided Snyder is 'the debil', I think Snyder himself is to blame for that.

The best Redskins season I remember is probably 2005, and we weren't that good.

I'm generally a pessimist, especially with sports...and I just can't get excited about this just yet.

I know better, I know that this may just be another high priced failure for the team that I love so dearly.

I want it to work, I want us to win and be successful year after year but until I see it on the field I won't believe it.

If one weathered, been to the top of the mountain and back again fan can offer his advice: hang in there, my young brother. Hang in there. None of us who were there could possibly have forseen the glory years before we were smack dab in the middle of them, at which point it no longer mattered, such was the magic and heady aroma of perennial, overwhelming success.

Your time WILL come. Why? Because you love the Redskins, not the Lions, or the Browns. The Jags and Texans fans will have their day in the sun too, it might just take a while...

I'm not going to applaud a man for doing what he should have been doing all along. While I am going to give the new regime the benefit of the doubt, I am looking for results, not just overtures.

I've never been one to think Snyder is evil. He may be flawed, as all of us are, but evil should be reserved for the worst sorts of scum. But his image problem, as Boone correctly noted, is his own making. Imagine if John Riggins came out and said that Joe Gibbs had a dark heart. He would have been simply dismissed out of hand by some and vehemently rebuked by others. When he said it about Snyder, a lot of people wondered aloud if it wasn't, in fact, true. So much so that both Blache and Cerrato came out specifically to defend their boss against the charge that his "heart is dark." That says it all.

I'm not going to applaud a man for doing what he should have been doing all along. While I am going to give the new regime the benefit of the doubt, I am looking for results, not just overtures.

I've never been one to think Snyder is evil. He may be flawed, as all of us are, but evil should be reserved for the worst sorts of scum. But his image problem, as Boone correctly noted, is his own making. Imagine if John Riggins came out and said that Joe Gibbs had a dark heart. He would have been simply dismissed out of hand by some and vehemently rebuked by others. When he said it about Snyder, a lot of people wondered aloud if it wasn't, in fact, true. So much so that both Blache and Cerrato came out specifically to defend their boss against the charge that his "heart is dark." That says it all.

Not sure I'm at the 'applaud' level yet either Sassy. More like giving begrudging credit for some steps in the right direction, and for absorbing a beating of fairly brutal nature and still making the decision to move in a positive direction...

You know I have had my hopes raised too many times over the last few years, Gibbs back, etc. and I think I will withhold my approval about all the "new and improved" Redskins until I see some real and actual improvement. The moves made so far are positive, and perhaps things will change, but call me a skeptic, I'll wait.

It's human nature to want to turn anyone in the public eye into some extreme caricature. That's unfortunate because even the simplest personalities are far more complex than we'd probably like to credit them. In Snyder's case, it's the one thing I think he truly has to 'own' - his seemingly impervious determination not to allow those outside of his inner circle to really get to know who he is. I think that's a near fatal flaw. It might be his nature, it might be a calculated move, I'm not sure what drives him to be so intensely private. But I think it's a mistake.

Fans of the Washington Redskins want to like their owner. They want to love their owner. They want to defend their owner. But he makes it very difficult to do that, because he's dead-set against letting anyone know who he really is.

I'll relate it to the 'war' the Redskins were engaged in with the Washington Post and other traditional media several years back. Rather than trying to create some media system that bypasses them or shuts them out (think 'Redskins Unfiltered', the acquisition of extremeskins, gobbling up radio stations, hiring talent away from your critics, etc...), the smart way to deal with your critics is to give them more access and to face them openly. If Snyder ever really opened up and made himself accessible, particularly to the fanbase, he could totally change that whole dynamic. I'm not sure what he's so afraid of?

So if there is a good percentage of fandom that's decided Snyder is 'the debil', I think Snyder himself is to blame for that.

It's funny, I compare Snyder and Mark Cuban often in conversation. Both have insane amounts of money, both are self-made men, both own very successful sports franchises, and make loads of money off those endeavors, and both put much of that money back into the team to try to improve it. Yet Snyder is, by and larged, loathed, while Cuban is beloved, and has Cubs fans dreaming of him buying their team.

One is removed completely from the public eye (as much as it possible anyway); the other is court-side, cheering the team on, maintaining a public blog, personally answering emails, etc.

That's an interesting comparison (might be a blog in there somewhere for you Goaldeje )...

I am not that knowledgeable about Cuban, but my sense is that he's much more of a maverick, thumb-his-nose-at-his-critics type than Snyder is. Cuban's unconventional style and brashness might have more to do with his fan popularity than just being accessible? I don't know. To me, Snyder's obsession with privacy just looks like paranoia and an obsession with control...it's harder to like those qualities...

That's an interesting comparison (might be a blog in there somewhere for you Goaldeje )...

I am not that knowledgeable about Cuban, but my sense is that he's much more of a maverick, thumb-his-nose-at-his-critics type than Snyder is. Cuban's unconventional style and brashness might have more to do with his fan popularity than just being accessible? I don't know. To me, Snyder's obsession with privacy just looks like paranoia and an obsession with control...it's harder to like those qualities...

Anyway, interesting thoughts...

Maybe so...

I would posit that Cuban's popularity has to do with both his maverick appeal and his openness. I wonder why Snyder hasn't latched onto that. In talking with a couple of Mavericks fans yesterday, they both adore Cuban b/c he obviously cares, and tries to improve the team.

So does Snyder, right?

Snyder seems a little obsessed with his public image. OK, maybe more than a little. So I wonder why he hasn't tried other measures? The darkly guarded veil of secrecy hasn't worked, so why not try the opposite? He wants to be liked, but only revealing the information he wants revealed.